The upcoming release of Dragon Ball DAIMA has made Dragon Ball fans extremely happy. Part of the reason for this excitement is the fact that pre-release information confirmed that Goku will spend a good portion of this story as a child, forcing him to bring back some older fighting moves and learn some new ones. Fascinatingly, DAIMA’s Dragon Ball Goku is far from the first time Dragon Ball fans have seen a child version of Goku. Although they have the same build, each child Goku was completely different. But when did Goku take on these forms and why are they so memorable?
The Dragon Ball DAIMA child twist has been confirmed via a post on the New York Comic Con 2023 website and news from Akira Toriyama, who says:
Due to the plot, Goku and his friends became small.
To set things right, they set out to a new world!
It’s a big adventure with intense action in an unknown and mysterious world.
As Goku has to make up for his small size, he uses his Nyoibo (Power Pole) to fight, something he hasn’t seen in a long time.
Original Kid Goku
The First Young Goku Was Goofy But Endearing
The first child version of Goku is found at the beginning of the original Dragon Ball. The first chapters introduce Goku as a small but noisy orphan living alone in the forest since the death of his grandfather. At the beginning of the first arc of DragonBall, Goku says he is 14. But during the tournament saga, Goku reveals that he is actually 12 years old. He explains the difference by saying that he didn’t know what order numbers were entered until training with Master Roshi, so he told Bulma the wrong age.
This version of Goku has several things that set him apart from later child versions of the character. The most obvious difference is that this version usually has a long monkey tail. During his early life, Goku used this tail for many different tasks, from fishing to undermining his opponents. However, this tail has a huge downside: it causes Goku to turn into a raging monkey whenever he sees a full moon.
Another thing that sets this boy Goku apart is his lack of intelligence. Having spent most of his life alone in the forest, this version of Goku knows little about the world. For example, this version of Goku doesn’t know that men and women have different anatomy. Even after Bulma explains it to him, Goku cannot visually tell the difference between men and women. For this reason, when meeting people for the first time, he grabs his crotch, showing his complete ignorance of social norms. Besides, little Goku knows little about fighting. While he is naturally strong, he doesn’t know how to channel it into effective attacks, meaning his battles tend to be chaotic, with Goku carelessly jumping and pouncing on his enemies.
Dragon Ball GT Kid Goku
Goku’s Second Childhood Is Nothing Like His First
Dragon Ball GT begins with Mai, Shu, and Emperor Pilaf sneaking into the Lookout. They soon reveal that they are hunting the Black-Star Dragon Balls, an alternate set of Dragon Balls created by the Nameless Namekian and hidden in the Lookout. After a short search, the group finds the orbs and uses them to summon the Ultimate Shenron. However, before they can make their wish, Goku enters the room, eager to see what the strange light is about.
Pilaf forces Mei and Shu to fire missiles at Goku, but he easily deflects them and makes the attack laugh. This causes Pilaf to lose his temper and blurt out that he wishes Goku was a little kid again so he could “really teach him a lesson”. Ultimate Shenron, who has been listening the whole time, takes this as Pilaf’s wish and returns Goku to child size.
This Goku (often called Little Goku in outside media) is quite different from the child Goku seen in the original Dragon Ball. The main reason is that Pilaf’s wish only changed Goku’s body, not his mind, meaning he retains his adult personality and knowledge. This makes Baby Goku calmer and more socially aware than his younger self.
However, Goku’s smaller body has several disadvantages. His small stature greatly reduces his stamina, making it difficult for Goku to maintain stronger forms for long periods of time. Even worse, his immature and weaker body means he cannot use the advanced fighting techniques he used as an adult, limiting his fighting abilities and forcing him to invent new techniques and fighting strategies. Fortunately, Goku overcame these obstacles in the later GT arcs, as Old Kai helped Goku get his tail back and Piccolo gifted Goku with all of his power. This means that Little Goku is about as strong as his full-fledged self at the end of Dragon Ball GT.
Shadow Goku
A Dark Version Of Young Goku Who Vanishes Quickly
Shadow Goku, who debuted in the Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission manga, is a construct created by Black Smoke Shenron. Shadow Goku looks like Little Goku from Dragon Ball GT with a black, shadowy palette and empty eyes. This Goku clone fights like the original and uses a dark version of the iconic pillar of power. However, his existence is rather short-lived as, after a short battle, Beat, Note, Froze, and the original Goku destroy Shadow Goku. Although an interesting concept, Shadow Goku hasn’t been seen since this fight, leaving him as a footnote in the franchise’s history.
Baby Goku
A Glimpse Of Goku Before The Story Began
While not technically a separate character, Dragon Ball fans have had a few glimpses of younger versions of Goku from before the start of the original Dragon Ball. This version of Goku was first seen in Dragon Ball Minus: The Departure of the Fated Child, a bonus story that came with the collected version of Jac the Galactic Patrolman. Taking place hours before Frieza enacts his plan to eradicate the Saiyans, this story follows Bardock and Gineo as they prepare to launch Goku into space to save him from Frieza’s evil plan. In this version of events, viewers can see that baby Goku looks like a smaller version of the character that fans met at the beginning of the original Dragon Ball.
Later, a version of this moment appears in Dragon Ball Super: Broly and Dragon Ball Super Chapter 84, “A People’s Pride.” While all of these versions are slightly different from each other, they all treat baby Goku the same way and are a smaller, more immature version of the character that fans first met at the beginning of the original Dragon Ball.
Dragon Ball DAIMA Goku
DAIMA Could Go In Many Directions Depending On The Regression’s Mechanics
One of the most surprising things about Dragon Ball is that even though Goku has many different forms, he is only seen three times in a child’s body. The main reason is that forms were uncommon in the original Dragon Ball, with only a handful of characters having alternate forms. By the time fighters shape-shifted multiple times per fight became standard around the middle of Dragon Ball Z, Goku was already an adult, meaning the child form was of little use.
While Dragon Ball GT experimented with this idea, the show’s poor reception likely led to future Dragon Ball content shying away from the concept, not wanting to evoke the show in fans’ minds. Only time will tell how Dragon Ball DAIMA handles Goku’s return to youth, but hopefully Toriyama can do what previous writers couldn’t and give fans the young Goku adventure they’ve been craving.